EDGE
A digital magazine from NCSSS giving teachersandadministratorsthecompetitive advantagein professional development.
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TJHSST Students Look to Collaborate
“The TJ students’ project involved creating an app they hope will help scientists better understand SIDs.”
ISSUE 1 | 2024
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The End of ESSER Obligation: Where
“After a slow start, districts have reached a pace–roughly $5 billion a month—that will exhaust all ESSER funds by the deadline.”
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2024 Professional Conference
Agenda at a Glance Link to Program Details
2024 Professional Conference Fieldtrips
Building the STEM Continuum
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STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
Science and the Power of Communicating
05 08 11 16 19
From the President’s Desk by Corey Alderdice
From the Executive Director by Todd Mann
“The TJ students’ project involved creating an app they hope will help scientists better understand SIDs and possibly improve current sleep monitors.”
The End of ESSER Obligation: Where Do Things Stand? by Susan Gentz 08
Agenda at a Glance
“There’s only three months left to obligate the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief (ESSER) fund.” Link to Program Details
TJHSST Students Look to Collaborate on SIDsProject by Mike Roth 04 05 12 13 13
2024 Professional Conference Field Trips A Design Course for Every Student by Susanna Kemp 16
“STEAM DTI is grounded in six key processes: collaboration, communication, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and empathy.”
FROM THE
PRESIDENT’S DESK
Imagine you’re in a classroom where students are buzzing with excitement, working together on a project to build a robot. This isn’t just any classroom – it’s a space where collaboration is the name of the game. Among NCSSS member institutions, where STEM is the focus and innovation at the heart of our missions, students and educators working together is a huge part of learning. Students get to roll up their sleeves and dive into a variety of hands-on projects. Think about it: when building that robot with friends, you’re not just memorizing equations or theories; you’re actually applying them.
Students learn how to connect the dots between what they’ve learned in class and real-world problems. You can read more about some of the exciting work our NCSSS schools are doing in this issue of STEM Edge from projects studying Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to student perspectives on conducting research at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany.
Working together also helps students develop other essential skills like communication. In any collaborative project, you have to explain your ideas, listen to others, and find common ground. This backand-forth is what makes teamwork so powerful. It’s about brainstorming together, solving problems, and coming up with creative solutions that you might not think of on your own. These are the skills that employers find of equal importance to technical capacity or knowledge in a given subject.
Let’s not forget how collaboration helps bridge the gap between theory and practice. STEM subjects can be somewhat abstract at times, and it’s easy to get lost in complex concepts. But when you work on a project with others, it makes learning more concrete andmeaningful.Forexample,buildingthatrobotisn’t just about understanding the mechanics; it’s about seeing how physics, engineering, computer science, and creativity come together in a tangible way.
A spirit of collaboration fosters a mindset of lifelong learning. When students work with others, they’re constantlyexposedtonewideasandwaysofthinking, which keeps curiosity alive and encourages our
exceptional young adults to keep learning and growing. In STEM fields, where things are always evolving, this mindset is essential.
We hope you will take advantage of this collaboration among your STEM peers – teachers and administrators from around the world – at this year’s Professional Conference, November 6-9 in San Antonio. You can read more about the sessions, Field Trips, and networking sessions in the Conference section of this issue.
We would love to learn more about your STEM schools as well as what makes them unique and innovative. Send in a note about your school to jen.mcnally@ncsss.org, and we will feature them in the next issue of STEM Edge.
Corey Alderdice
Executive
Director Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Hot Springs, AR alderdicec@asmsa.org
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
As we embrace the lazy days of summer, I want to extend my warmest wishes to each of you. I hope this season allows you to relax, recharge, and spend quality time with loved ones. The summer months often offer a muchneeded respite from the demands of our professional lives, allowing us to return refreshed and ready to take on new challenges.
This issue of Stem Edge marks a return of a popular piece, but with some aspects refreshed. Rather than quarterly, we will provide you this magazine on a semi-annual basis. That will give us more time to field the best content for you, and not clog your inboxes. So, thank you for reading, and if you have ideas for subsequent issues, please email me at the below address.
Amid your summer plans, I would like to take this opportunity to share some exciting news about the upcoming NCSSS Professional Conference, which will be held from November 6-9, 2024, in the beautiful and historic city of San Antonio, Texas. I encourage you to put the Professional Conference on your calendars for what promises to be an inspiring and enriching event!
Our annual conference is a cornerstone of the NCSSS community, bringing together dedicated educators, administrators, and advocates from across the country who are passionate about advancing STEM education. San Antonio, known for its rich cultural heritage and vibrant atmosphere, will be a perfect backdrop for our gathering. The city’s blend of tradition and modernity mirrors the balance we strive to achieve in STEM education—honoring foundational knowledge while fostering innovative thinking. Toward that end, we will also be visiting sites in the city that are focused on STEM.
Here are some highlights you can look forward to at the 2024 NCSSS Professional Conference:
1.More than 60 Concurrent Sessions: Gain insights from your peers in STEM education, who will share their expertise on the latest trends, research, and strategies to enhance our teaching practices and student outcomes.
2.Networking Opportunities: Connect with like-minded professionals and build valuable relationships. Our networking events are designed to foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas, ensuring that you leave the conference with a wealth of new contacts and fresh perspectives.
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3. Field Trips: Explore STEM education around San Antonio with our dedicated time to three schools! You can learn more about these schools on page 13. And, we are offering a trip to Boeing Center at Tech Port, a veryuniquecampus.
We are confident that the 2024 Professional Conference will be an unforgettable experience, offering valuable learning opportunities and fostering a sense of community among STEM educators. Your participation and engagement are what make this event truly special. Visit our conference website for more details and to register. Early registration will ensure you secure your spot and help us in our planningefforts.
Thank you for your unwavering dedication to STEM education and for being a part of the NCSSS community. Wishing you a restful and joyful summer, and I look forward to seeing you in San Antonio this November!
Manythanks, Todd
TJHSST Students Look to Collaborate on SIDs Project
Mike Roth Communications Specialist
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
At Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) in Alexandria, VA, students have the opportunity to pursue their scientific interests throughout their four years of high school. That includes creating projects on their own time to enter local, regional, state, and international science fairs. TJ juniors Tejavi Kumar and Sravya Tathicherla found success with their project called “CNN Identification of Abnormal Lung Sounds as a Potential Precursor of SIDS.”
Tejavi and Sravya have spent the past year studying Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which is the unexplained death of infants between the ages of one month and six months. About 2,000 newborns succumb to SIDS every year in the United States. There is no known cause for SIDS, but some of the theories include low oxygen levels, the baby’s sleep position, premature births, and maternal pregnancy complications.
Tejavi
and Sravya use the sample information that they gathered, and passed it into the CNN model, which was optimized to roughly 85% accuracy.
“This year, for the science fair, we wanted to look for a project that was very impactful and could have a helpful application,” said Sravya. “We are both interested in biomedicine and researched different conditions and diseases and came across SIDS. SIDS interested us very much because there is no known cause or cure. This unknown factor of SIDS was a huge obstacle and made it more exciting to look for a solution, especially for a condition that harms thousands of infants and families a year. The most important thing we learned was how to target problems that have no solutions right now. It taught us to deeply research into this topic and draw our own connections with the data we found.”
The TJ students’ project involved creating an app they hope will help scientists better understand SIDs and possibly improve current sleep monitors. Current
monitors sometimes can create a false impression to parents that they can detect and prevent SIDS. Tejavi and Sravya’s app records the breathing sounds of infants for data analysis.
“We aim to use a convolutional neural network (CNN) to analyze breath sounds and identify any correlations of abnormal breath sounds with irregular sleeping positions, which is a risk factor of SIDS,” said Tejavi. “We converted infant respiratory sound audio files into wave plots allowing us to extract features such as Mel spectrogram, spectral bandwidth, spectral centroid, chromogram, and short-time Fourier transform.”
“We are also currently researching different methods to create the optimal device for recording breath sounds to analyze with our model.”
Tejavi and Sravya used the sample information that they gathered, and passed it into the CNN model, which was optimized to roughly 85% accuracy, to differentiate between normal and abnormal breathing as well as identify rhonchi, wheezes, stridors, coarse crackles, and fine crackles.
“The applications of this model can be useful in identifying potentially low oxygen levels and poor sleep positions, both of which have been correlated with SIDS,” commented Tejavi. “We also 3D printed our monitor with a microphone which can record the breathing sounds and convert it to wave plot images in our app. This study does not aim to prevent SIDS; it offers an inexpensive monitor system which focuses on detecting potential risk factors of SIDS. We are also currently researching different methods to create the optimal device for recording breath sounds to analyze with our model.”
The project advanced past the TJ Science Fair and to the Fairfax County Science Fair. It also piqued the interest of TJHSST principal Dr. Ann Bonitatibus. It reminded her of a project she had seen at the NCSSS Leadership Summit in January. The Neosim is a realistic looking model baby that replicates normal and abnormal breathing patterns in infants and is used in medical schools and hospitals nationwide for training.
Dr. Bonitatibus was able to get in touch with Dr. Jane O’Reilly, one of the developers of Neosim, and told her about the TJ students’ project. Dr. O’Reilly was so interested that she wanted to meet with Tejavi and Sravya in person.
On May 15, Dr. O’Reilly came to TJ and brought her sim baby LuSi (Lung Simulator) with her. Tejavi and Sravya had the opportunity to see how the device functioned, while Dr. O’Reilly suggested ways their app could help. The TJ students came away impressed with the realism of LuSi.
The main suggestion that Tejavi and Sravya had for Dr. O’Reilly is to add audio of breathing sounds to LuSi to make it even more realistic. In that case, their app could then be used to monitor those sounds and teach medical students and hospital staff what to look for when searching for abnormal breathing patterns in infants.
“LuSi serves as a great way for us to test our app because of the ethical regulations regarding testing. It allows us to test for each controlled variable individually, allowing for quick and easy adjustments in the early stages of further developing our model.”
“We were really surprised at how real the sim baby looked. The blue veins, eyelashes, fingers, and toes were very realistic and impressive,” said Sravya. “We really liked how you could simulate many different breathing conditions on the baby and be able to visualize different parameters of the baby. We think this simulator will bring big changes to the medical field and medical training.”
As the school year comes to an end, Dr. O’Reilly expressed interest in continuing to work with Tejavi and Sravya on improving both projects, including a potential meetup during the summer. Both of them have already begun considering their next steps with their app.
“The next big step is adding features to analyze other physiological markers beyond just breath sounds to make a more nuanced and accurate model,” said Sravya. “LuSi serves as a great way for us to test our app because of the ethical regulations regarding testing. It allows us to test for each controlled variable individually, allowing for quick and easy adjustments in the early stages of further developing our model.
“Another aspect of our project that we are further developing is the device used to measure breath sounds. We have considered smaller devices or patches that are easily and non-invasively placed on the baby as well as options for a device that can be attached to the baby’s crib.”
Tejavi and Sravya wanted to thank their mentor, TJ chemistry teacher, and Virginia State Science Olympiad Director Emily Owens for her help in leading them through this project, and look forward to continuing to work with Dr. O’Reilly throughout the summer and into their senior year.
The End of ESSER Obligation:
Where Do Things Stand?
Susan Gentz Director of Business Strategies NCSSS
“After a slow start, districts have reached a pace–roughly $5 billion a month— that will exhaust all ESSER funds by the deadline.”
It’s hard to believe that only three months are left to obligate the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief (ESSER) fund. When the ESSER fund was first announced through the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the end of the era felt very distant. The time is here, so where do things stand?
Obligate vs Liquidation
The amount left to calculate for obligation is hard to determine as districts may have most of the dollars committed but not yet liquidated. However, as far as obligation goes, Edunomics reports that, “After a slow start, districts have reached a pace–roughly $5 billion a month—that will exhaust all ESSER funds by the deadline.” These dollars must be contracted before the original end date of September 30, 2024. Any uncontracted/unobligated dollars will still need to be returned to the federal government on this date and will not be eligible for spending by the state or district. This means approximately $20 billion still needs to be obligated in the next four months across the country.
Liquidation is the actual allocation of dollars, which was extended to May 2026 after superintendents petitioned the United States Department of Education. In this letter, the department emphasized that spending should be used on “increasing daily student attendance; providing high-quality tutoring; and increasing
access to [before- and after-school learning] and summer learning and extended learning time.” Any funds committed but not yet out the door cannot be spent on personnel, bonuses, or devices. Districts can request an extension for liquidation up to December 31, 2024.
Liquidation is easier to track, which the United States Department of Education does here. The numbers are still pretty astonishing for what’s left, and significant funds will likely be returned to the federal government that were not spent. For example, California still has $5 billion unspent, Texas has $2.9 billion left to spend, has around $4 billion unspent, and Florida has around $3 billion still in ESSER III funds for liquidation. (Again, this doesn’t mean it isn’t obligated; it just hasn’t been spent yet.) Even so, there are significant amounts of funding to still be considered, and districts are working on how to spend these last dollars now.
“80% of school districts and charter organizations launched tutoring programs and SEL has also seen major growth with Edunomics estimating about 50% of districts spending dollars for this area.”
Where have the funds been spent so far?
This is a very important question, and again, another one that’s been painfully difficult to find answers for. Twenty states report no data on how any ESSER funds were spent. In contrast, others report but with categories like “other,” so it’s still very challenging to identify where the funds are going, and it’s even harder to identify if the funds are working. There are a few notable areas that have been popular with districts that use ESSER
funds. According to FutureEd, 80% of school districts and charter organizations launched tutoring programs and SEL has also seen major growth with Edunomics estimating about 50% of districts spending dollars for this area. Another area that has seen an increase in spending include facilities (an estimated 20%), as those investments do not create recurring expenses like those associated with personnel.
Burbio, an education tracking company that also looks at school board minutes, identified that staffing cuts, hiring freezes, and workforce reduction is slowly increasing as school boards look to prepare for the end of their bolstered budgets. The percentage of boards discussing this topic is consistently rising every quarter.
There will be many tough funding decisions coming for district and school leaders.
Source: Burbio
What do we do going forward?
There is some good news for STEM education. First of all, when it comes to state funding, there are still many opportunities to bolster STEM opportunities. Even though the federal funds will soon be gone, there will be opportunities to
“This is a critical time for education funding, something we’re not likely to see again in our lifetime, so let’s use it to promote student success and well-being.”
dedicate to STEM programs. It will be especially important to look for grants with the terms “careerconnected” and even CTE. (This is currently the largest growing area of grants.) These areas are seeing an increase in funds, and the President’s FY25 budget request provides for “$1.4 billion for STEM education and workforce development programs at the National Science Foundation that have an emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The Budget also includes funding for programs focused on increasing the participation of groups historically underrepresented in science and engineering fields, including women and girls and people of color.” It’s also an area that is mostly nonpartisan, which is at least not a non-starter for a divided Congress.
While the ESSER funds are still available and not completely obligated, it is important to have conversations to help bring STEM to the table for spending. STEM falls under allowable uses for extensions, so now is the time to advocate for your school or program. And as always, if there is anything NCSSS can do to help, let us know. This is a critical time for education funding, something we’re not likely to see again in our lifetime, so let’s use it to promote student success and well-being.
NOVEMBER 6-9 | SAN ANTIONIO, TX
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2024 Professional Conference Program Details
Conference Hotel Information
Westin Riverwalk Hotel
420 W Market St.
San Antonio, TX 78205
• The room rate is $239/night, and is available for one day prior to and one day after the event.
NCSSS contracts with the hotel to receive this special rate based on minimum bookings, therefore attendees are encouraged to RESERVE YOUR ROOM through the provided link below:
Book Hotel Now »
2024 Professional Conference Field Trips
Friday, November 8 | 8 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
All three school sites are operated under the auspices of the Northside Independent School District, the fourth largest district in Texas serving 102,891 students.
John Jay High School Science & Engineering Academy (SEA)
• The Science & Engineering Academy (SEA) was established in 1997 for students interested in careers and/or further studies in the STEM fields. SEA operates as a school within a school on the campus of John Jay High School in Northside ISD (San Antonio, Texas).
Programs of Study:
The Science & Engineering Academy offers 4 different STEM Career and Technology Education (CTE) programs of study:
The Biomedical Science program of study focuses on the study of biology and medicine in order to introduce students to the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in the healthcare field, such as researching and diagnosing diseases, pre-existing conditions, or other determinants of health.
The Engineering program of study focuses on the design, development, and use of engines, machines, and structures. The curriculum shows students how to apply science, mathematical methods, and empirical evidence to the innovation, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of different manufacturing systems.
The Advanced Manufacturing and Machinery Mechanics program of study focuses on the assembly, operation, maintenance, and repair of electromechanical equipment or devices. Students in the program of study may have interest in working in a variety of engineering and mechanical fields such as robotics, refinery and pipeline systems, deep ocean exploration, or hazardous waste removal.
The Programming and Software Development program of study explores the occupations and education opportunities associated with researching, designing, developing, and testing operating systems-level software, compilers, and network distribution software for medical, industrial, military, communications, aerospace, business, scientific, and general computer applications. This program of study may also include exploration into creating, modifying, and testing the codes, forms, and script that allow computer applications to run.
Northside School of Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship (NSITE)
NSITE High School provides unique learning experiences by fostering an entrepreneurial spirit of innovation and problemsolving through high-quality instruction and a specialized curriculum focused on technology applications, business principles, and project-based learning.
NSITE Students:
• Learn to start and promote your own business through courses focused on Social Media, Business Management, Accounting, and Entrepreneurship
• Learn programming languages like Python, Java, and HTML and take them through the complete software lifecycle of planning, designing, developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining program applications
• Earn industry recognized certifications such as ITF+, Network+, and Security+
• Earn Dual College Credit in all three academies including an Information Security Level 1 Certificate in Cybersecurity
• Get hands-on experience building, configuring, and operating an on-site local area network
• Learn to mitigate cyberattacks by applying preventative measures and searching for risks withinan organization
• Apply computer science to solve problems through the development of algorithms and programs
• NSITE Senior Entrepreneurs partner with technology students in a senior capstone course in which they create and run a virtual business
Health Careers High School
• All attendees will end the Field Trips at Health Careers High School.
• Health Careers High School is located in the heart of the South Texas Medical Center in Northwest San Antonio on 13 acres donated by the San Antonio Medical Foundation in 1984. The school is operated under the auspices of the Northside Independent School District, the fourth largest district in Texas with a population of 102,891 students.
• Health Careers High School, a magnet school, is designed for students whose interests lie in careers in the allied health fields and medicine. Students are carefully selected through an application process. Criteria include career goals, grades, attendance, test scores and citizenship. The enrollment of Health Careers High School is not restricted by specific geographical boundaries; hence, it is composed of all ethnic and socio-economic groups from San Antonio, Bexar County and the surrounding communities.
• Health Careers High School operates on an alternate block schedule. The 36-week school year is divided into two semesters of 18 weeks each. Course offerings are academically rigorous. Students are offered a comprehensive curriculum and elective courses in healthcare-related subjects.
• The science and health science curriculum prepares students for college and gives the students insight to health-related professions. Due to the proximity to and the cooperation of the University of Texas Health Science Center and the South Texas Medical Foundation, Health Careers High School students have the unique opportunity to work on research projects through internships in these medical facilities, plus others throughout the city. Dual Credit is offered through Northwest Vista College.
A DESIGN COURSE FOR EVERY STUDENT
Susanna Kemp
Reprinted with permission from Kappan Online
A Design Course for Every Student - Kappan Online
An Illinois High School developmed a math class that uses steam and design thinking to spur creativity and empathy while teaching real-life skill.
At the beginning of each school year, high school math teachers Lara DeMoya and Jose Manuel Arias point students in their STEAM Design Thinking and Innovation (DTI) class to shelves filled with recyclables and art materials and give them an assignment: Make something that wasn’t there before. The only parameters are that their “something” must be innovative, and they must use the whole time allotted to them. Typically, the students flounder. (The teachers’ toddlers, on the other hand, excel when given similar instructions at home.)
“The students really want us to tell them exactly what to do and how to do it,” DeMoya said. “They don’t remember how to think outside of all those constraints.”
Evanston Township High School (ETHS) in Illinois is integrating STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) with a humancentered design curriculum to help students reharness their creativity. STEM education is rooted in late-20th-century efforts to help students compete in the global marketplace by
building skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (Blackley & Howell, 2015). It has been lauded for its transdisciplinary approach to equipping students with the skills they’ll need in a high-tech future (Madden et al., 2013). Integrating the A – arts – in STEAM adds creativity to the mix.
PROCESS OVER OUTCOME
STEAM DTI is grounded in six key processes: collaboration, communication, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and empathy. We de-emphasize perfectionism, competition, and risk avoidance.
During the first semester of the class, students collaborate on short design challenges that involve engaging with those around them, like creating a way for the school community to get to know ETHS’s safety team. They interview, research, go over ideas, and generate feedback. Learning comes from doing. “We’ve talked to plenty of people who didn’t make huge impacts on our [final] project, but there was still extreme value in talking to them,” former student Aidan remembered.
and doesn’t require large sums of money or an elaborate space, just a willingness to engage with others and with higher-order thinking. And yet, it’s not an easy class. “There’s a lot of failure, but it’s in a good way,” Logan, a former student, said. Students who typically excel in school — who consistently get high grades, turn assignments in on time, and thrive when given very specific directions — often find STEAM DTI challenging, mostly because of the importance the class places on process over outcome.
“STEAM DTI is grounded in six key processes: collaboration, communication, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and empathy. We de-emphasize perfectionism, competition, and risk avoidance.”
By the end of the course, students are more adept at working with others and thinking deeply. Former student Claire remembered volunteering at a school event where she and a STEAM DTI classmate bounced ideas off each other about what could make the school better and considered holding focus groups. “Suddenly we were like, ‘STEAM has changed the way we think,’” Claire said. “Everywhere I go now, all I can think about is ‘What would I do to improve this?’ And then I think, ‘Well, what’s really the problem?’”
DESIGNING STEAM DTI
In the second semester, students work on a capstone project, identifying a need or opportunity in Evanston and implementing a project to respond to that issue. This year, projects included designing a better sensory space for students with disabilities and running art workshops to support Black and brown students’ self-expression.
STEAM DTI focuses not on product or profit, but on community design. It has no course prerequisite
STEAM DTI was born out of an observation that math education at ETHS needed an update. “More than ever, because of artificial intelligence, we don’t need to know as many formulas,” Arias said. And beyond that, traditional mathematics classes can be seen as a barrier for students who don’t easily catch on to math concepts or don’t have access to as many resources to catch up. Typically, mathematics is sequenced in a linear fashion; you can pass on to the next lesson or class only if you can apply the class’s current processes. Liesa Klyn, who co-created the original
curriculum and taught the first three cohorts, said, “Students of color were overrepresented in groups without access to higher math classes.” How could the school offer a math class with more varied entry points that was still rigorous?
Kristen Perkins, the Northwestern UniversityETHS partnership coordinator, helped to develop STEAM DTI. A former high school biology teacher, she now helps to connect resources at the high school and university to buoy educational opportunities at each institution. The partnership office has a specific emphasis on broadening STEAM programs, with a focus on diversity, college and career preparation, and identity.
“The partnership office has a specific emphasis on broadening STEAM programs, with a focus on diversity, college and career preparation, and identity.”
For STEAM DTI, Perkins took inspiration from a Northwestern engineering course called Design Thinking and Communication. That course aims to build empathy and communication in a field where creators are often distant from those they create for. When Northwestern’s engineering school shifted its curriculum in this direction, it retained more women and students of color.
“The way that our society thinks about STEM privileges people with left, linear skill sets,” Perkins said. “Framing engineering as something that is collaborative, that is creative, that doesn’t have one right solution but that is really openended opens up different pathways and ways that [students] can see themselves in the work.”
Perkins worked closely with ETHS Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Pete Bavis and an interdisciplinary team to create and propose the course at the high school level, and she now supports the course’s curriculum and event planning.
In line with ETHS’s collaborative nature, Perkins positioned Northwestern as an anchor partner that
communicates with local and distant professors about projects. Taking inspiration from the Big Data as Art collaboration between Northwestern and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she teamed up with Stanford University’s d.school, which has a focus on collaborations with K-12 schools, and the university’s NU Public Interest Program (NUPIP). Through NUPIP, the school hired a recent graduate each year to help teach and plan the class, choosing fellows with varied backgrounds to bring ongoing new perspectives to the course.
Design thinking includes:
• Identifying an issue or need
• Gathering context and listening with empathy to those affected
• Articulating the root of the issue
• Brainstorming and prototyping solutions
• Testing
References
Ackermann, R. (2023, February 9). Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong? MIT Technology Review.
Blackley, S. & Howell, J.L. (2015). A STEM narrative: 15 Years in the making. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (7).
Council of Chief State School Officers. (n.d.). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Council of Chief State School Officers Learning Portal.
Evanston Township High School. (n.d). Mathematics/About math.
Gram, M. (2019). On design thinking. N+1, 35.
Iskander, N. (2018, September 18). Design thinking is fundamentally conservative and preserves the status quo. Harvard Business Review.
Madden, M.E., Baxter, M., Beauchamp, H.M., Bouchard, K., Habermas, D., Huff, M.J., . . . & Plague, G.R. (2013). Rethinking STEM education: An interdisciplinary STEAM curriculum. Procedia Computer Science, 20, 541-546.
Vinsel, L. (2021, December 6). The design thinking movement is absurd. Medium. This article appears in the September 2023 issue of Kappan, Vol. 105, No. 1, pp. 29-33.
Building the STEM Continuum
Jason Osborne Chief Business Officer
syGlass Inc
In today’s rapidly evolving world, the demand for skilled professionals in STEM continues to grow. However, despite this need, many students face barriers to pursuing STEM careers, including a lack of resources, limited access to hands-on learning experiences, and inconsistent student engagement. Addressing these challenges requires a concerted effort from educators, industry partners, and community stakeholders to build a robust pipeline of STEM talent. This needed collaborative effort is clearly articulated in the community of Midland, Texas, where STEM careers are abundant, yet the pipeline runs shallow.
One innovative initiative leading this endeavor is syGlass, a cutting-edge educational platform designed to revolutionize STEM education. More than just a virtual reality (VR) experience, syGlass serves as a catalyst for change, disrupting traditional STEM curricula to ignite excitement and foster scientific and critical thinking among students. At its core, syGlass provides an immersive and interactive visualization
of massive, real-world scientific image data. Students get access to the same cutting-edge tools used by the research community and have the opportunity to collaborate directly with them to make a real impact on their fields of study.
At the heart of syGlass’s mission is a commitment to collaboration and community engagement. SyGlass has built STEM labs in local high schools by partnering with industry leaders like Diamondback Energy, providing students with access to state-of-the-art technology and realworld learning opportunities. Diamondback Energy financed syGlass in these initiatives and paid for the installations at Midland ISD. Diamondback has a vested interest in increasing students’ exposure to STEM, aiming to produce a generation of STEM-literate adults who will enter the workforce with the skills needed locally. These partnerships not only enrich the educational experience but also bridge the gap between classroom learning and the skills required in today’s workforce. Ashley Colquitt, Public Affairs with Diamondback Energy states, “Diamondback Energy is excited to introduce the Diamondback STEM Lab, powered by syGlass, to Midland ISD. This cutting-edge immersive technology is not only capturing the imagination of students but also revolutionizing the way they learn. At Diamondback Energy, we believe our future leaders deserve the best opportunities to succeed. We are committed to enriching the educational environment in our community and are thrilled to play a part in shaping the next generation of innovators.”
In addition to local business partnerships, schools and districts can tap into other valuable resources to fund VR STEM labs. Philanthropic organizations and foundations often have a mission to support educational initiatives and can provide significant financial assistance. These foundations may offer grants designed to improve STEM education and bring innovative technologies into classrooms.
STEM grants, available from various governmental and non-governmental organizations, are another critical funding source. These grants typically promote STEM education through the provision of modern educational tools and resources. By applying for these grants, schools can secure the necessary funds to install and maintain VR labs, enriching their STEM programs.
syGlass works hand-in-hand with educational institutions like Midland College to create dual credit opportunities for high school students. By offering college-level coursework in STEM fields, these programs empower students to earn valuable credits while still in high school, setting them on a path toward higher education and career success. Brandi Havner, Dean of Allied Health shared, “Students and faculty were able to manipulate medical imaging data like CT scans and MRIs in an immersive virtual environment, sparking enthusiasm and excitement amongst our crew! Such an exciting look at the future of health sciences education!”
Brandi Havner, Dean of Allied Health at Midland College explores CT scans of the human body in syGlass.
Through these collaborative efforts, syGlass and its partners are building more than just a pipeline of STEM talent – they are fostering a STEM ecosystem and culture of innovation, curiosity, and lifelong learning. By investing in the next generation of STEM leaders, the Midland community is ensuring their own economic vitality and driving progress and advancement on a global scale.
As we look toward the future, it’s clear that our society’s success will be intricately linked to our ability to harness the power of STEM. We can empower students to reach their full potential and shape a brighter tomorrow for all by coming together as a community to support STEM initiatives.
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
Mary O’Bryant
Class of 2024
South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics
Hartsville, SC
It was not until I was lost, stuck on a bus going in the wrong direction, and surrounded by people who spoke little English that I was completely and irrevocably aware that we were in Germany.
As a requirement of graduating from the Governor’s School for Science and Math, every student participates in six weeks of research between their junior and senior year. When I applied through GSSM’s Outreach Department to complete my research at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, I thought six weeks in a foreign country would never become a reality.
When I was offered the opportunity, I was both nervous and excited when I thought of exploring new areas of research and a new country.
As a part of the program, two of my peers and I traveled to Germany and stayed with host families from our partner school in Pforzheim, a city about two hours away from Heidelberg. I completed six weeks of research in the Department of Molecular Genome Analysis, where I studied a protein-coding gene in therapy-resistant breast cancers. I worked with a lab technician under my mentor, the head of the department.
“One of the most fundamental lessons I learned when working in the lab was the value of challenging myself to embrace my limited knowledge and strive to understand something new.”
As a 16-year-old working in a lab with graduate and doctoral students, I experienced feelings of inferiority and imposter syndrome. The level of education and training that the other scientists in my lab had was far beyond my understanding of molecular biology. I worked with scientists from all over Europe in a high-paced research lab. One of the most fundamental lessons I learned when working in the lab was the value of challenging myself to embrace my limited knowledge and strive to understand something new.
There was so much that I had the potential to learn from the others working in my lab. I began devouring research articles suggested by my
mentor, attending weekly seminars and journal clubs, and working closely with some of the doctoral students in the lab. I learned how to communicate when I was stuck on a protocol and to ask questions when I was confused, even if it was difficult to speak up at first. After a week or so in the lab, I began working on a subset of a doctoral thesis project for a student in the lab, and I formed a close relationship with her. I became a part of a team, despite my young age and inexperience, and was able to discuss biology with people who had once been in my shoes. My lab experience taught me more about science, but also the power of communicating and working hard toward a goal.
The National Consortium of Secondar y STEM Schools (NCSSS) was established in 1988 to provide a forum for specialized secondar y schools focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to exchange information and program ideas.
NCSSS
Our mission is to advance STEM
education by providing professional development and networking opportunities for educators and learning experiences for students; to ser ve as a national resource for STEM schools and programs in partnership with educational, corporate, and international organizations; and to inform policymakers on STEM education.
NCSSS
Our vision is to ser ve as the resource for secondar y STEM schools by supporting collaboration and knowledge sharing and providing professional development for teachers and administrators to positively impact student achievement in authentic STEM educational environments.
NCSSS Connections
The NCSSS Directory has been replaced by ClubExpress to create the most up-to-date and engaging way for NCSSS members to connect. This private platform not only provides contact information, but will offer threaded conversations for discussions that is available to STEM leaders and teachers at each member school.
Check it out today!
Questions about ClubExpress? Contact Ann Flynn Ann.Flynn@ncsss.org